BLEACHERS BREW EST. MAY 2006

Someone asked me how my blog and newspaper column came to be titled "Bleachers Brew". It's like this, it's an amalgam of sorts of two things: The bleachers area in the stadium/arena where I used to sit when I would watch baseball, football, and basketball games and Miles Davis' great jazz album Bitches Brew. That's how it got culled together. I originally planned on calling it "The View from the Big Chair" that is a nod to Tears For Fear's second album, Songs from the Big Chair. So there.

Friday, September 28, 2012

If the two-time former UFL champions
began the league play with the lineup they closed out the season with they
would have finished much higher in the standings.

It started out with the acquisition of
Masood Ohadi Shadideh, who scored 10 goals in eight matches, Shayan Jafari
Dastjerdi, Hamed Hajimehdi and Fil-Spaniard Emil Muncada. Although they
stumbled to a 2-0 loss to Air Force as the new recruits got their baptism of
fire in Philippine football, they found their groove in the next game with a
1-nil triumph over Nomads and a shocking 4-3 upset over Loyola that derailed
the latter’s campaign. Jafari Dastjerdi scored a hat trick in that match
including an 84th minute strike that won the game for the Essi
Sedigh-coached side.

Global sent them crashing back to
earth with a 4-0 thumping (and a 1-1 draw with Green Archers United),
underscoring the need for better defending. After which they manufactured a 1-0
win over Stallion before returning the favor to Air Force with a 3-2 win
courtesy of an Ohadi goal.

In the off-season, the club, aside
from Pachanga, underwent a massive facelift with only nine players retained
from the previous campaign. They brought in Fil-American Josh Boone from the
Dayton Dutch Lions of the USL Pro League, Pachanga’s goalkeeper Kenneth Dolloso
who is a penalty stopper, Nigerian striker Emmanuel Mbata, and defender Promise
Jolomi who will take the departed Mark Anthony Fernandez’ spot in the back.
They also added 22-year old Michael Nelson, a Fil-British midfielder who once
played for Nomads.

With all the new faces, it would be
interesting to see how they all blend and improve on last year’s finish.

For a club that doesn’t have the
capability to pay its players, recruit massively, and train on a regular basis
(not to mention dealing with distracting issues in their particular “homefield”
in Merville, Paranaque), Nomads didn’t do too bad in their maiden year in the
top flight division of the UFL. Now what more if they were able to address
their woes?

There are 10 new faces to Nomads, the
country’s oldest football club. The team has shed its expat image and brought
in many local players. But Phil Connolly, Steven Borrill, Randy Musters, and
Kristian Joergensen will still lead the Mick Denison-coached club.

Last season, Green Archers United
played terrific defense in the cup competition. Come league play, while they
were still a tough team defensively their lack of offense wasn’t enough to stay
in the upper tier of Division One as they flirted with relegation. There’s
potential, mind you. They showed that they were a force to reckon with by
battling Loyola to a near standstill before losing 2-3. They lost to Kaya 2-1, drew
1-1 with Pasargad, and lost by a hairline to eventual champions, Global, 1-0.

Their transfer window acquisitions
from FEU’s UAAP team – striker Jon Melliza and the multi-talented Ronnie Aguisanda
– helped the squad offensively but it still wasn’t enough.

This new season, they hope to have
addressed some concerns with the arrival of former Global midfielder Ayi Nii
Aryee who also won two titles in the UAAP with UP. Ayi can be of great help to his
team – provided they know how to use him. In the past, he was asked to playing
defender or even a holding midfield position. They are far from his strengths
as he is a scoring player. But the coaching staff is hoping that he can find
Tating Pasilan, Arnie Pasinabo, and Melliza with his deft passing. If he can
link up with them then Green Archers will be dangerous up front.

Young Korean midfielder Saekyoul Lee
from FEU is an exciting midfielder who makes good reads on offense. It would be
interesting to see how he finds playing time not to mention chemistry with a
team that isn’t very good in its short passing.

Lawrence Ikegwuruka, late of Loyola,
and Dominic Mensah, formerly of Nomads, add to their defensive toughness.

Another former club power that has
struggled to compete with the new face of Philippine football.

They showed some promise when they
upended eventual champion Global in their first match of the league
competition. They hung tough in the next few games before their lack of
firepower up front did them in. National players Boogie Margarse, Roel Gener,
and Ric Becite did their best to carry the team but it was like putting up a
sandbag against the rising flood waters. Jeoffrey Lobaton who made a comeback
early last season when Army was lacking players made an impact with his energy.
But his temper also undid the team when he was oft carded for his physical
play.

With the promotion of Pachanga, Army
will be hard pressed to make the most out of its roster of former national
players many who are getting in on the years.

Coach: Maj. Patricio Bumidang

(NEW) Kevin Benas, Jake Macuja, and
Jake Rodrigazo.

Pachanga
(Division Two champions, 21-1-0)

Easily the most controversial club of
the past two years. Pachanga has its genesis in Kaya when many of its players
departed for the new club (including their coach Juan Cutillas).

The Red Phoenix, as Pachanga is known,
topped the UFL’s Division Two in record setting fashion as they romped through
the ranks with a 21-1-0 slate while racking up 123 goals and conceding only
eight.

As soon as the club was promoted, they
were sold to a group that owns Diliman FC prompting a massive change in its
roster. The result is the best of both club’s former line-ups and instantly
transforms them into a darkhorse contender for any piece of silverware this
season.

They are led by former national
players Freddy Gonzalez, Ariel Zerrudo, and the up and coming Jinggoy Valmayor.

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Who am I?

What I do for a living?

I also write regularly for Business Mirror; philstar.com; abs-cbnnews.com, and rappler.com.

I am also currently the media officer for the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup, the National Basketball Training Center, and the Flying V Davao Thunders.

I do PR consultancy for a variety of clients that I do not want to divulge.

I used to teach journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University hand have given lectures about journalism, new media, marketing, and public relations at the Ateneo, UP Diliman, UST, San Beda, Immaculate Conception Academy, Miriam College, Mindanao State University, FIFA seminars, and a few other schools and organizations.

I used to write for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippines Free Press, and Maxim Philippines. I have also contributed to FHM, Men's Health, Tower Sports NBA, Rebound, and a few other sports, interior design, and lifestyle magazines as well. Most recently, I was the editor-in-chief of PBA Life, the Official Lifestyle Magazine of the Philippine Basketball Association as well as Season 40 edition of Hardcourt, the season-in-review.

My blog, Bleachers' Brew, serves as a hub for many of my writings (but not all as there are some that are exclusive).

When I have free time, I listen to my collection of over 5,000 CDs, read, watch DVDs, or walk my dog around the subdivision.

Liverpool FC

My all-time favorite football team. I bleed Liverpool Red.

Books in my collection: Four Four Two with an excellent feature on Jurgen Klopp!